Are these directors biting more than they can chew?

Jun 18, 2013, 08:45 IST
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Shakti Shetty

Some directors seem to expend more energy in announcing their films than actually getting down to make it

With the box office churning out almost 1,000 films a year, it’s no surprise that filmmakers get into fierce competition in order to get the best possible release for their movies. But incidentally, some directors don’t even seem to mind when their films fail to get off the start line. Perhaps, a case of biting off more than they can chew? Read on...

Anees Bazmee The filmmaker who started his career as the scriptwriter of the David Dhawan film Swarg has been associated with several titles that failed to hit the floor. Salman Khan-starring Ready in 2011 marked his last directorial venture.

Hollow announcements: It’s My Life featuring Harman Baweja and Genelia D’souza. Word has it that the sequels to Welcome (starring John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar and Amitabh Bachchan) and No Entry (starring Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor and Bipasha Basu) were in the making but there seems to be no credible effort in this direction.

Current status: Unclear.

Shekhar Kapur For some inexplicable reason, in a long while now, this celebrated auteur has continued to do everything but make a film. With names like Bandit Queen, Elizabeth, Masoom and Mr India on his repertoire, one can give him the benefit of doubt for being choosy with projects. But then, Elizabeth: The Golden Age was the last feature film he directed. And that was back in 2007.

Hollow announcements: An ambitious film titled Mantra (starring Preity Zinta) never materialised and neither did a biopic on Buddha (Ashutosh Gowariker was supposed to collaborate).

Current status: His much-delayed dream project Paani recently got itself a producer but there’s barely any buzz on its progress.

Rajkumar Santoshi Comeback someone? Yes. The National Award-winning director has been out of box office action for sometime now. Ghayal, Damini and Andaz Apna Apna were his early films. And his last directorial venture was Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (2009) starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. In the meanwhile, he reportedly faced financial troubles and concurrently, none of his projects seemed to take off.

Hollow announcements: Firoz Nadiadwala's Power starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgn and Anil Kapoor failed to turn into reality. Neither did Ramayan starring Devgn-Kajol or Ashtavinayak’s Ladies and Gentlemen starring Abhay Deol-Sonam Kapoor. Sequel to Andaz Apna Apna was the talk of the B-Town and remained just that.